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It’s been a few days since even the big mushroom shops closed their doors.
Sad year
The constipated mushroom artist Aidas Mardos plans a vacation every year in August, combining it with the start of mushroom season. The man says that later he earns much more than working in a carpentry company.
Last year, when the mushroom harvest broke records and trunks full of cars were transported from the forest, Aidas earned between 50 and 60 euros a day. This year, however, the wallet is unlikely to be so full: there are almost no squirrels and the boletus is full of worms.
“It just came to our knowledge then. Last year, not just boletus, but generously paired blueberries as well. And this year, just one more berry. Maybe there will be more blueberries – I found it big and very pretty”, – A. Mardos do not lose hope.
True, according to him, one cannot complain about the outbreak of boletus: on Sunday, he and his relatives collected eight mushroom buckets in the Šimonys forest. Above all there were boletus. It took until dawn to fix everything, because even the little ones had worms.
“I usually pick mushrooms for sale. The problem is that now, due to the strong launch of boletus, the stores have been closed for several days. The only way out is to sell to those who are unwilling or unable to embrace you. Only they are not in a rush to buy. Perhaps since last year, people have dried up and remembered the mushrooms, it was a record year for them ”, thinks A. Mardos.
According to him, selling to people is even more profitable: even before closing the door, stores were paying three euros per kilogram of boletus, and he sold a kilogram of beautiful boletus on the roads for five euros. It is much cheaper than on the market, very good for both him and the buyer.
“It is still difficult to predict what this season will be like, but it is obvious that there is nothing to compare with last year. It germinates more slowly, but maybe there are simple mushrooms; I can already find one more lollipop, oregano, macaw. But they are only bought boletus and squirrels in the stores, so it is not known if they will be able to earn anything from forest products this year, ”said A. Mardos.
Playing online
Mushrooms can be found not only in the forest or at the market, but also online. In several online markets you would have to pay between five and seven euros per kilo of boletus, and 35 euros for the full bucket. A frequent seller offers to bring mushrooms to your doorstep for the same price.
Ričardas Kulbokas, offering online boletus for the first time this year, smiles that the children have seen such a business idea. People from Panevėžys told me that they usually go to the nearby Kupiškis district or the forests in the Krekenava area, where they have a farm.
“A good mushroom does not betray the places of the mushroom. But this year, even if you are not qualified, you will not return from the forest without a catch. And practically everywhere, just boletus. The family is already supplied with mushrooms, so now I collect and sell some, ”said R. Kulbokas.
Waiting for a second pension
Last week alone, Panevėžys managed to earn almost a hundred euros from mushrooms. If this continues to sprout, Richard hopes to earn a second pension. “To paraphrase a famous phrase, it can be said that if it weren’t for the mushrooms and berries, retirees would be naked. Joining disability benefits is great for me. In the past, I took mushrooms to the market, I sold them to acquaintances, and now children place an ad on the Internet and buyers appear as they appear, ”says the retiree.
According to Kulbok, if the boletus is still so worn, prices will have to be allowed. Now he asks for seven euros per kilo, and if he buys more, he goes down. The resident of Panevėžys himself boiled six or ten liter boletus mushrooms enough for the family to have lunch a couple of times. It is true that this time he hastily left the knife at home, so in the forest it was not possible to verify which ones are healthy and which ones with worms.
“It seems such a beautiful but still small boletus, and already with the inhabitants. When I choose to sell, I try to control everyone. I understand that if I sell the worms, next time those people will not buy from me. Mushroom cultivation is mainly fun for me, but it’s fun when I can join the pension, “said R. Kulbokas.
The great ones withdrew
Mindaugas Balčiūnas, the owner of the “Pjauk grybą” shop located in the Anykščiai district, near the Šimoniai forest, has been buying mushrooms for several years. According to him, it has never been the case that the mushroom and berry purchasing centers in Aukštaitija have completely closed their doors, leaving those who live without income from collecting forest goods without income. After the large buyers’ departments closed, mushroom pickers flocked to smaller buyers.
“On Monday, when many mushroom shops stopped operating, we received so many calls that we could not pick up the phone. We are probably the only ones whose contacts can be found online. Other shopping centers can be found only near the forests according to the tables, so we get a lot of mushrooms, ”said M. Balčiūnas.
However, your ability to buy large quantities is also very limited. According to M. Balčiūnas, the main activity of his family farm is the production of apple cheeses. Buy mushrooms, just as an additional activity. Most of the boletus purchased is dried, ground into a powder to produce spices.
After buying large quantities of mushrooms, he would later have to turn his head to sell the surplus products.
© Photo by R. Sadauskas – Kvietkevičius
“We don’t resell mushrooms, we only use them for our products, so we can’t buy much. But it turned out that I was left alone on the mushroom buying front. I also understand big buyers. Maintaining an army of people in different regions. when there is no main “meat” – squirrels – it is quite a deficit. The nearest factory is in Švenčionėliai, so you have to buy large quantities of mushrooms to cover at least the logistics costs, but the boletus has worn out enormously ”, said the buyer.
As a stock exchange
According to M. Balčiūnas, they cannot buy worms boletus either, so they must carefully select all mushrooms. And he prefers his full-time voters, for whom mushrooms are the only way to earn a living.
“There were no squirrels in July, so the bread is already dry, and even when the boletus is spent, people are quite sad,” says M. Balčiūnas. According to the mushroom buyer, they currently pay three euros per kilogram for quality boletus. Last week, 4-5 euros per kilogram were paid for the same mushrooms. And two weeks ago, they even offered 10 euros for a boletus and a kilogram of squirrels.
“It just came to our knowledge then. The higher the supply, the lower the price. When the massive germination of mushrooms begins, the price falls to the eye,” described M. Balčiūnas.
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